Exodus 33:1–11

Moses and the Tent of Meeting

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which ^aI swore to Abraham, ^bto Isaac, and ^cto Jacob, saying, ‘^dTo your seed I will give it.’

²“And I will send ^aan angel before you, and ^bI will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

³“Go up to a land ^aflowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst because you are ^ba stiff-necked people, lest ^cI consume you on the way.”

⁴Then the people heard this ¹sad word and ^awent into mourning; and none of them put on his ornaments.

⁵So Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are ^aa stiff-necked people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would consume you. So now, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’”

⁶So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷Now Moses used to take ^athe tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And ^beveryone who sought Yahweh would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

⁸And it happened whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.

⁹And it happened whenever Moses entered the tent, that ^athe pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; ^band ¹Yahweh would speak with Moses.

¹⁰And all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent. And all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.

¹¹Thus ^aYahweh used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. Then ¹Moses would return to the camp, and ^bhis attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.